Is Britney Spears’ Femme Fatale tour already in trouble?

Britney Spears” “Femme Fatale” tour opens in Sacramento, Calif. tonight at the Power Balance Pavilion, but is it in trouble before the first synthesized, autotuned note is played?

Unlike her past tours that have sold out quickly, tickets for Spears” current tour have not moved as fast. Therefore tour promoter Live Nation Entertainment is offering tickets for half price in most markets in a promotion through Groupon.

We did a quick search and found Groupon offerings in a number of cities, including June 16″s show in Sacramento, where 1,400 offered tickets went for $30, a 49% discount, according to local paper, Sacramento Bee.

Similar deals have been available in many other tour stops, including Detroit, San Jose, and St. Paul”s Xcel Center. In some of the deals, even front sections of the venue are deeply discounted. For example, the Xcel Center Groupon promoted floor seats and sections in the 100s very close to the stage for $83. The tickets were originally priced at $165 including fees.

I then went to Ticketmaster to try to buy tickets for tonight’s show and was able to purchase two seats for the fourth row of the front section of the floor, closest to the stage, for a whopping $749.20 for the pair. Those aren’t scalpers prices, people. That’s the face value plus service charge. For Spears” stop at Los Angeles” Staples Center on Monday, June 20, I was able to get two choice seats: row 5 of a section one section away from the stage on Ticketmaster. The pair were $386.80. I think we’re starting to see the problem here.

What”s going on here? First off, even though “Femme Fatale” received largely strong reviews and debuted at No. 1, the album hasn”t had a smash hit that”s resonated with fans. “Till the World Ends” is at No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 this week, but that”s largely due to remixes featuring Nicki Minaj and K$ha that gave it a new life.

Plus, the album hasn”t ignited. It has sold a little more than 550,000 since its release 11 weeks, which is certainly respectable, but in comparison with other current superstar releases, is slow. For example, Adele”s “21” just surpassed the 2 million mark in 16 weeks. Lady Gaga”s “Born This Way,” although falling precipitously, has already sold around 1.4 million copies in three weeks. Tourmate Nicki Minaj”s “Pink Friday” has sold close to 1.5 million in its 29 weeks of release.

The biggest reason is likely that Spears has been her own worst enemy, as the very few live television performances to promote “Femme Fatale” were awkward and leaden and consisted of her walking more than dancing. Plus, her last tour, 2009″s “Circus,” was heavily criticized for her lipsynching. Maybe going the $350 VIP ticket route for close seats wasn’t the way to go here (although we think they were even higher, $500, for “Circus”).

We”re all for lower concert prices, so her fans are the big winners here with all the discounts, but we”re also all for artists really putting on a show and if they”re not up to the rigors of the road, waiting until they are. Hopefully, Spears will prove the doubters wrong. Regardless we”ll be back tomorrow with a round-up of reviews from tonight”s show.

We’re requested a comment from Live Nation about slow sales and will amend the story if we hear back.

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Let’s see. She doesn’t actually sing live. She moves like a slug on stage. Who would pay for that?

By: Dustin

06.17.2011 @ 3:43 PM

Bet you feel dumb for saying that after watching videos from last night.

By: justin

06.16.2011 @ 7:46 PM

“Femme Fatale” definitely went platinum in both the US and Canda,and gold in 4 other countries. which is 1 million copies sold. [en.wikipedia.org] writing false statements is not good journalism

By: justin

06.16.2011 @ 7:48 PM

platinum=1 mil
gold=500,000

By: melinda

06.16.2011 @ 8:25 PM

Justin, i’m sure “Femme Fatale” will eventually go platinum, but I’m staring at the SoundScan numbers and while it has gone gold, it has a way to go, like more than 450,000, before it hits platinum in the U.S. It used to be that the RIAA would certify based on shipments, but that was obviously a flawed plan.

By: Jayden

06.16.2011 @ 10:40 PM

Actually, she’s not really that hot to look at anymore (Britney, you need to lose MORE weight!). Why would anyone want to pay that much money to see a fat Britney Spears??

By: QueenGaga

06.16.2011 @ 11:11 PM

it SHIPPED a million copies. it only SOLD 500K.

By: WL

06.17.2011 @ 12:39 AM

Melinda, I’m really trying to get into the music section of Hitfix, but you constantly report things that aren’t true. I agree about the tickets prices being ridiculous but Till the World Ends is Britney’s biggest single in her entire career at radio, even bigger than Baby One More Time. Also if you check her iTunes sales the original version is charting higher than the remix. And yes it’s #12 but it’s been out since the first week of March. Almost 4 months later it’s still hot.

By: melinda

06.17.2011 @ 2:59 AM

WL: I think you’re referring to the stat from a few weeks ago when the combined “Till the World Ends” garnered her highest weekly audience ever at radio. I don’t know if most people would say that makes it her biggest single ever–although you may have the win on a technicality there. However, ask 10 people on the street to sing “World” vs “Baby One More Time” and do you think “World” would win? And yes, while the original has regained traction, the remix is absolutely what reignited interest as the week the remix became available, the song shot back up the chart 11-3 with the remix accounting for 68% of the sales (the chart, as you know, is a combo of radio plays and digital download sales).

By: WL

06.17.2011 @ 4:52 AM

In the past, Britney in general has never been huge on the radio. Her success has usually been reflected on her huge fan base. Last time she was played anywhere near as heavily as she has been with “World” was when “Toxic” came out. Sure, fine, let’s say “Baby” is her biggest hit ever (as it should be) but “World” is definitely her biggest hit of her career right after “Baby” surpassing “Toxic.” I do agree with the remix being extremely important tho – just like the S&M remix help the song hit #1. But eventually, just like S&M, both original versions remained more relevant. The iTunes charts don’t lie.

By: mike

06.20.2011 @ 2:20 PM

The only reason GAG GAG’s album sold 1.4 million is b/c Starbucks and Best Buy gave it away with purchase of cell phone or coffee, and AMAZON sold it for .99 for two days. Anyone can sell albums @.99…who couldn’t sell 1 mill..WHAT A JOKE and WHAT BIASED reporting. PATHETIC..why wasn’t GAG GAG’s Fraudulent attempt at being #1 now flopping brought up?

By: mike

06.20.2011 @ 2:22 PM

The only reason GAG GAG’s album sold 1.4 million is b/c Starbucks and Best Buy gave it away with purchase of cell phone or coffee, and AMAZON sold it for .99 for two days. Anyone can sell albums @.99…who couldn’t sell 1 mill..WHAT A JOKE and WHAT BIASED reporting. PATHETIC..why wasn’t GAG GAG’s Fraudulent attempt at being #1 now flopping brought up? EXACTLY

By: SLUGNY

11.19.2011 @ 10:40 PM

Also BECAUSE its NOT A PILE of STEAMING HOT TURD promoted BY A POOR EXCUSE FOR DRUGGED UP ZOMBIE on A bad DAY (FAT + UGLY + moves like a SLUGNY – so what if shes bipolar or on antidepressants then the dumb cash cow shouldn’t be touring but as her stans are so desperate + have no standards or expectations SHE CAN LMAO SAD!